Lady Indians to get season underway today

The Comanche softball team takes to the diamond officially for the first time today when they host Tishomingo at 5 p.m.

The Lady Indians will be under new leadership as Kaytlin Morrow takes the helm for her first year. Assistant coach Brittany Patman is also new to the team.

Morrow has liked what she has seen out of her team so far.

“The past couple of weeks has been really good,” Morrow said. “The girls have been responding well to me and Coach Brittany’s instruction and coaching. They’ve all been working really hard. We’ve already started building relationships with all the girls and they’ve stayed positive through everything.”

Senior Chloe Kincaid and freshman Addie Evans will more than likely be the two go-to pitchers on the mound with additional support from senior Katelynn Cole.

Rayleigh Ellis returns at catcher for her sophomore year and Cianna O’Connor could see some time behind the plate as well, Morrow said.

Cassidy Smith will more than likely get the nod at first base when Kinkaid is pitching. Evans looks to have the second base spot and senior Bre Gill will play shortstop. It marks the return for Gill who did not play her junior year after successful freshman and sophomore years.

Morrow said she has picked up where she left off.

“She’s a very good natural athlete, so missing that year hasn’t affected her,” Morrow said. “By watching her play, I don’t think anyone would guess she missed a year.”

O’Connor may see most of the playing time at third base. 

The outfield consists of a combination of Payton Gomez, Rylee Pipkin, Emily Clark, Billy Clark and Cole. 

Savannah Kelnhofer is a utility player that Morrow said could play any number of positions as needed.  

“I think just as long as we keep working hard defensively and offensively, we will be able to hang with everyone,” Morrow said. “So, it’s making sure that the little things don’t snowball.”

Morrow said much of their time together has been trying to start over by teaching the basics and learning the little things to build everything up.”

And doing the little things will be a big part of the success this season.

“Not doing the little things seems to get us every single time,” Morrow said. “We need to keep the ball in front of office, make sure we get the pop outs for the easy outs in the outfield. We need to be aggessive hitters and put the ball in play. A lot of times we want to swing for the fences. I just want all our girls to work on being consistent hitters, and then the rest will come.”

She will be not only be looking for leadership from her seniors even though it will start with them.

“We’ve got the older ones as leaders and then we’ve got some younger ones like Cianna and Rayleigh that are good leaders for our team, too.”

Morrow said Gill and Ellis have been hitting the ball well in the preseason.

“They were really consistent in the Marlow League and they can do just about anything,” Morrow said. “They’re both really fast, so I can utilize them however I need them.”